As much as we understand and accept the attraction of youth and hope, this time there seems to be something real, something special there.

"A lot was heaped on their plate before they ever put a uniform on or ever played a minute of NBA exhibition basketball," said Eastern Conference coach Rick Carlisle of the Indiana Pacers. "I just really believe those three guys -- Carmelo, LeBron and Yao -- are exceeding what were unbelievable expectations and quite frankly, unfair expectations. The fact is, these guys have gone beyond that."

They are giving a face to the future of the NBA. And more than an image, they bring hope.

And this time, the impatience to embrace this generation is not just fashion. This group is viewed as something that can last, and we don't want to miss out on their success.

"Pretty much, we created the hype," James said. "By us playing this game of basketball, we created it. If we don't know how to play this game, there wouldn't be any, and it's going to keep coming, because we know how to play this game. That means there's no pressure for us."

There is something more than basketball ability to explain the rare popularity of players who have barely started their careers and never been in a playoff game, never mind won a championship.

There is style, an attraction there. Other young players have rare abilities. The Suns' Amare Stoudemire, not Yao, was Rookie of the Year last season. He was the first player who came directly from high school to win the award. And he has not seemed an inappropriate choice since or on Friday when he was the Most Valuable Player of the Rookie Challenge, leading the sophomores to a 142-118 win with 36 points, the record for the game.

As Friday's game quickly became a trifling exhibition in which the primary defensive goal was getting out of the way, James and Anthony offered enough high-speed slams to make any cable television screamer hoarse.

James had 33 points and six assists. Anthony had 17 points. Yao, seeming out of place in the exhibition, took four shots, made three (missing only a 50-foot heave as the halftime buzzer sounded) and had six points.

But their appeal has become so powerful that the game was moved from a way to kill time on a Saturday afternoon to Friday's prime time. And Yao, though he is an All-Star game starter, was instructed to play in both games.

Something special about trio

Yao, 23, remains ubiquitous, a magazine cover boy and product pitchman loaded with just the right combination of talent and mystery, with a twinkle of wit to make the marketers fight over him.

Anthony, 19, brings an aura of a champion behind a face pretty enough to already have a leading-man movie role to consider.

And James, 19, in a teenage package of athletic gifts that have somehow to exceed expectations had seemed unapproachable.

But the hope of the league seems to be that the sudden arrival of three compelling young players will bring attention to qualities that are more valuable than mass appeal.

They have not done anything that many rookies have not done before them. Most of James' and Anthony's statistics rank in the top 50 for rookies. James averages 20.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.8 assists. Anthony averages 19.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists.

But the difference between James and Anthony, like Yao last season, seems to be that they have been built for the most substantive, more legitimate and objective measure of excellence.

"With these guys, everybody's talking about them, but the thing you talk about the most is how they've made their teams so much better," said Western Conference coach Flip Saunders of the Timberwolves. "(The Nuggets) have won 31 games. (Carmelo's) made his team so much better. LeBron, he's made his team so much better. Yao Ming has made his team much better.

"With them, the trend is, players in the league, fans and other people recognize people that help their teams win. That's a good trend. You get more substance."

No need to be jealous

There is a remarkable lack of envy from veteran players who have accomplished so much more. Anthony won a NCAA championship at Syracuse. But Yao did not take his team to the playoffs last season, and James' Cavaliers are not on pace to make the postseason this year.

In a league in which Michael Jordan's burgeoning celebrity was thought to have inspired a freeze out from his All-Star Game teammates, Yao, James and Anthony have been embraced.

O'Neal falls over himself to praise Yao. Veterans protested when Anthony and James were not selected as All-Star reserves.

"In most normal circumstances, with this much hype, this much attention it would be a possibility of a lot of jealousy from a lot of players in the league, from a lot of veteran players," Carlisle said. "I don't see that.

"The unusual thing about LeBron, Carmelo and Yao, when you see these guys operate, when you talk to them, you see how they carry themselves, how they comport themselves, you don't sense that they feel a right of entitlement because of the hype. These guys feel like they have to earn their money, and they feel like they have to go out and play the right way. When you have young players that have that sort of approach, it's awful hard to argue about the things that are coming their way.

"The reason the veteran players in this league, the coaches, the fans love these guys so much is they're about the right things. More than anything, they're about winning."

As the trio clearly demonstrated in the Rookie Challenge, it could be about all the other things that so often get in the way. But James and Anthony seemed to know the difference.

"Basically, we share the same traits," James said of him and Anthony. "It's all about the desire to win, and we have that. We help our teams get victories. We help our teams on and off the court. Y'all can see that we have changed our franchises around from just eight months ago.

"I think right now, we just represent our teams well. We represent the NBA well, and we are contributing the best way we can for our teams. You know, if the league wanted to do that for us, it's not more pressure on us. We've been having pressure since we started playing basketball."

Showing grace under scrutiny

To be called the future of the league would seem to be a heavy burden. After the magazine covers and billboards, commercials and movies are shot, Yao, Anthony and James can never be ordinary. They can never just play.

But perhaps that is what makes them so compelling. While the intensity of the attention and expectations increases, they seem to welcome the pressure.

"You still have to face it," Yao said. "If you can't deal with the pressure, you're going to fail. I think we can all handle it."

All-Star Weekend summary

Happy Mobley

3-point shooting contest, described the team's transition to Jeff Van Gundy as initially rocky but now much smoother.

"We butted heads at first," Mobley said. "First of all, Steve (Francis) and I came in with Rudy (Tomjanovich). We were with him for five years. He was a father figure. He had our back when we got in trouble, or the media killed us or fans killed us. But when Jeff came in, it was a process. But he's a great dude, a great dude. And he's one of the smartest people I ever met in my life. I know some smart people, but that guy, he knows his stuff, man."

Asked about the increased emphasis on Yao Ming, Mobley said, "Yao keeps getting better. He makes us better as a team, with his passing, inside out. When Steve and I came in we were dribbling the ball, scoring 30 and losing. It's better scoring 16 and winning."

Cassell arrives

Sam Cassell spent Friday hearing the same words: "It's about time."

Cassell was selected to his first All-Star team in an 11-year career with the Rockets, Suns, Mavericks, Nets, Bucks and Timberwolves.

"I hear it all weekend, a lot from older players," Cassell said. "I knew that coming in. The old school guys appreciate me. My game, I'm a throwback kind of player. I'm not fast. I'm not a high jumper. I just get it done in my old little way.

"I tried to incorporate everything I learned against the younger generation. I'm 34 years old. But I'm not old by far. I've got a lot of basketball left in my body. If this is the way it's going to be, me having success at 34, I think 35, 36 and 37 was even better.

"I'm just glad to be here in 2004. I'm going to enjoy it. I'm not going to sit and mope I wasn't here sooner."

Confident youth

With the addition of an NBA age requirement still favored by commissioner David Stern, rookies LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, both teenagers when they were drafted, made their case that players so young should be permitted to join the league.

"I think it's really up to the player," James, who was 18 when he was drafted in June, said. "If he feels he's got the athletic ability and the mindset that he's ready to join the league, that's up to him. I don't see why an 18-year-old shouldn't be allowed to enter the league."

Said Anthony, "If you feel as though you can play in this league and you know you're going to get picked, why not take that jump?"